The night fell like a curtain of iron—heavy, suffocating, promising danger with every breath.
Outside, the storm raged, but inside the underground facility… a different kind of storm was brewing.
Rhea pressed her back against the cold metal wall, her heartbeat pounding so violently it felt like it echoed in the hallway.
Adrian's warning replayed in her ears:
"If anything goes wrong, don't trust the silence. It's the silence that kills."
She swallowed hard.
Right now, everything was silent. Too silent.
The power had cut five minutes ago. Every camera, every scanner, every sensor—gone.
Someone had done this on purpose.
And that someone was still inside.
Rhea tightened her grip on the small tactical torch Adrian had slipped into her hand before they separated. He had gone to confront Gresham's insider. She had gone to retrieve the encrypted drive hidden in the core server room.
But the moment she reached the hallway, she sensed it—
She wasn't alone.
A faint metallic clink echoed.
She froze.
Another sound… slow… dragging… like boots scraping against the floor.
Her breath hitched.
Not Adrian.
Not Gresham.
Someone else.
She forced her feet to move, inching forward quietly. The darkness felt alive, swallowing every shadow.
Just a few meters more… The server room is ahead… Keep going…
Then—
A whisper.
Too close.
"Rhea… You shouldn't have come alone."
Her blood froze.
She spun around, torch in hand, shining it into the darkness—
Nothing.
The hallway stretched empty, but she felt him.
Following.
Watching.
Her voice trembled. "Show yourself."
A low laugh rolled through the corridor.
Mocking.
Predicting fear.
"I've waited for this moment," the voice said. "To see how brave the little heroine is without her billionaire guard."
Her stomach twisted.
She knew that voice.
Mikael.
Gresham's right-hand man.
The traitor Adrian suspected from the beginning.
Her pulse spiked, but she steadied her breath.
"Mikael, you're playing the wrong game."
"No," he answered, stepping into the torch's edge—tall, armed, eyes gleaming like a predator—
"I'm ending the game."
THE TRAP CLOSES
Rhea backed up slowly, torch trembling slightly in her hand.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"I want what everyone wants." He smirked. "Leverage. Power. And the girl who keeps ruining everything."
He flipped a small blade between his fingers, casual, deadly.
"You think Adrian is going to save you tonight?" Mikael laughed. "He's already trapped. And when I bring your body to Gresham's men, they'll pay me double."
Rhea clenched her jaw, fear burning but anger rising hotter.
"You won't touch me."
He smirked.
"Who will stop me? You?"
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"No. He will."
A gun cocked behind Mikael.
He stiffened.
Adrian stood there—expression blank, eyes cold, aura deadly.
The tension snapped like a live wire.
Rhea exhaled sharply, relief weakening her knees.
Mikael did not blink.
"So you survived."
Adrian stepped forward, each step echoing like a death sentence.
"You made one mistake," Adrian said quietly. "You touched what's mine."
Mikael sneered. "Mine? She doesn't belong to you."
Adrian's voice turned lethal.
"She belongs to herself. But she is under my protection. And you violated that."
The air thickened.
Then—
Mikael lunged.
Adrian fired—
But Mikael had already thrown the blade, forcing Adrian to shift, the bullet grazing Mikael's shoulder instead of his chest.
He bolted.
"Rhea, move!" Adrian shouted.
She ran beside him as they tore through the corridor after Mikael.
The facility shook with the storm. Lights flickered. Sparks burst from the broken wires overhead.
They turned a corner—
Mikael was waiting.
He smashed a steel pipe against a fuse box—
Sparks exploded—
A fire ignited instantly, flames blocking their way.
Adrian grabbed Rhea and pulled her back just as the flames roared upward.
Mikael's voice echoed behind the fire.
"You won't escape alive! This place goes down in ten minutes!"
Adrian's expression hardened.
"He's triggered the detonation system."
Shock punched through Rhea.
"Then we need to get the drive and get out."
Adrian looked at her, eyes burning with something fierce.
"No. You need to get out."
"I'm not leaving without you."
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
"Rhea—"
She stepped closer, gripping his arm.
"You said silence kills. But I won't survive the silence of losing you."
Something shattered in his expression.
For a moment, nothing existed except them.
The fire.
The pounding alarms.
The danger is closing in.
And the raw truth in her eyes.
Adrian exhaled, a mixture of frustration and surrender.
"Fine," he said. "We do this together."
THE CORE ROOM
They found an alternate route, sprinting through smoke-filled hallways until they reached the server vault.
The heavy titanium door was half-open.
That wasn't possible.
Only Adrian had the authorization code.
He exchanged a dark look with Rhea.
"Mikael used my overridden credentials. He had help."
Fear curled in Rhea's stomach.
"Another traitor?"
"Or someone even worse," Adrian muttered.
They entered.
Instantly—
Rhea's heart stopped.
The core drive cabinet was empty.
Gone.
"No… no…" she whispered. "Adrian, it's not here."
Adrian scanned the room, jaw clenched.
"He took it. That means he's going for the surface exit."
Rhea's throat tightened.
"If he escapes with that drive—"
"Everything collapses," Adrian finished. His eyes burned with fury. "Not on my watch."
He grabbed her hand.
"Stay behind me. This ends now."
THE FINAL CORNER
The storm's thunder cracked overhead as they emerged from the underground tunnel.
Wind whipped around them.
Rain crashed like bullets.
And at the edge of the cliffside exit—
A helicopter blade spun slowly.
Mikael stood below it, clutching the encrypted drive, smirking even though blood dripped down his arm.
"You're too late!" he yelled over the storm.
Adrian aimed his gun.
"Mikael, stop!"
Rhea grabbed his arm. "Adrian, the fuel tanks—if you shoot—"
"I know."
Explosion risk.
One bullet could trigger the entire cliffside to blow.
Mikael laughed, stepping backward.
"Goodbye, Adrian! Goodbye, princess!"
He climbed onto the helicopter step—
Then a lightning flash illuminated everything.
Rhea's eyes widened.
"Mikael—look out!"
But it was too late.
A broken piece of the cliff loosened under his weight.
The ground cracked.
He slipped—
The dive flew from his hand.
Everything slowed.
The drive spinning through the air—
The cliff collapsing—
Mikael falling into the darkness—
Adrian lunging forward—
He caught the drive.
Barely.
Dangling over the cliff edge.
"Adrian!" Rhea screamed, rushing forward.
He slipped—
But she seized his wrist with both hands.
"Don't you dare fall!" She cried, voice breaking.
His other hand clutched the drive against his chest.
Rain blinded them, wind almost tearing them apart.
But Rhea held on with everything she had.
"Rhea," he panted, "you will not risk your life for me—"
"Too late!" she shouted. "I already did!"
With a final desperate pull—
She dragged him back onto solid ground.
He collapsed on top of her, breathless, drenched, and shaking—but alive.
The helicopter, unmanned, spun sideways and crashed into the rocks below.
A burst of fire lit the stormy sky.
But the drive…
Was safe.
Adrian looked at her, rain dripping down his face, eyes burning with something deeper than he had ever shown before.
"You saved me," he whispered.
She touched his face gently.
"You saved me first."
His jaw tightened, emotion raw and unguarded.
"Rhea…"
His voice broke.
"I can't lose you."
Her heart trembled.
"You won't."
The storm raged around them, but in that moment—
The danger.
The fear.
The fire.
The enemies.
Nothing mattered except the truth blazing between them.
And as Adrian pulled her into his arms—
Rhea knew this war was far from over.
But together?
They were unstoppable.